Corn-heading knife.



M. D. 6: L. OWEN.

00m READING KNIFE.

APPLIOATION FILED DEO.17, 1912.

Patented Mar. 31, 1914.

awe/M0205 L.Oi4 'en.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNIT SES CORN-HEADING KNIFE.

Application filed December 17, 1912.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, MELVILLE D. OWEN and LEO OWEN, citizens of the United States, residing at Vernon, in the county of ilbarger and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corn-Heading Knives, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to new and useful improvements in corn topping devices and more particularly to devices for that purpose adapted to be worn upon the hand of the operator, such hand devices being much used because of the expense of a machine for topping corn and also because of the fact that the machines now on the market are not adapted to top or head corn of uneven growth.

The main object of our invention is to provide an improved form of cutting blade including a body portion which rests flatly in the palm of the operators hand when the device is in place and the blade of which extends at an angle from the lower portion of the palm of the hand; and a still further object of our invention is the provision of a novel form of glove or mitten upon which the blade may be fastened and which is so constructed as to leave the fingers and thumb of the hand bare to permit more accurate manipulation. With these and other objects in View, our invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and then specifically pointed out in the claim which is attached to and forms a part of this application.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a perspective view of our improved heading knife, showing the same in position upon the hand of an operator; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the knife blade detached from the glove or mitten; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a blade for use upon a glove or mitten for the left hand, the headers shown in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawing being right handed headers; Fig. l is a plan view of the entire device removed from the hand.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

The preferred embodiment of our invention, as best illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, includes a glove or mitten 10 forming the supporting body of the header and a blade indicated as a whole by the numeral Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 31, 1914.

Serial No. 737,342.

11 and forming the cutting member of the header, this blade being secured to the palm of the mitten.

The glove or mitten may be formed of any suitable flexible material of sufficient strength and firmness, preferably leather. The glove forming blank consists of a substantially rectangular shaped strip of leather cut-away centrally at one end or otherwise formed as shown at 12 to provide spaced tongues 18 and lt adapted to extend upon either side of the thumb of the wearer when the glove or mitten is in place, the strip or main body of the mitten being of such length as to extend completely across the palm of the hand and partially over the back of the same. The end portions of the tongues 13 and let are connected by a strip of leather 15 which is preferably so proportioned as to draw the free ends of the tongues 13 and 14: slightlytoward each other in order to insure a close fitting of the mitten about the base of the thumb. Straps 16 and 17 are secured by their ends to the ends of the tongues 13 and 14 at the points of attachment of the strip 15 and are provided with spaced perforations 18 for the reception of buckle tongues as will be hereinafter explained. The strip 15 and straps 16 and 17 may be secured to the tongues 13 and 14 in any suitable manner such as stitching or riveting, the fastening means in the present instance consisting of rivets 19 which are passed through the ends of the tongues, strip and straps to secure all together. Extending from the opposite end of the body member, are straps 20 and 21 secured in spaced relation to the body member by rivets 22 and having their free ends formed into loops by rivets 23 to secure buckles 24 and 25 having tongues 26 for engagement through the perforations 18 of the straps 16 and 17.

The cutting member .11 of our improved header consists of a body member 27, preferably formed of tempered steel and substantially triangular in shape as shown, one side of this body member being formed in the shape of a reentrant curve to permit the same to bear comfortably about the fleshy portion of the hand at the base of the thumb, while an adjacent side is curved outwardly to engage against the palm of the hand at the base of the fingers. This body member 27 is secured to the body portion 10 of the glove or mitten by means of a plurality of rivets preferably disposed, one at each vertex of the body member and one in spaced relation from the vertices, these rivets being indicated by the numeral 28, the body member'being provided with openings 29 for the passage of the rivets. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawing, this body member is secured upon the body member of the glove with its reentrant curved edge portion in spaced relation to the cutaway portion 12 of the glove body and with its longitudinal aXis extending transversely of the glove body, that portion extending toward the wrist of the operator being inwardly curved to bear against the hollow of the hand immediately in advance of the wrist.

The cutting blade proper 30 is formed integrally with the supporting body 27 and consists of an extension disposed at substantially an angle of forty-five degrees to the body portion, the blade also being inclined transversely from its outer to its inner edge upwardly toward the wrist of the operator, its end being rounded as shown and its inner edge beveled to provide a cutting edge 31.

In operation, the glove or mitten is positioned'upon the hand of the operator in the manner shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the straps 16 and 17 being passed through the buckles 24: and 25 to secure the same in place. The blade then occupies a position opposite the thumb and the heads or tops of the corn or other grain being headed is grasped between the thumb and fingers of the operator and the operators hand raised to bring the cutting edge of the blade into engagement with the stalk and so sever the heads therefrom.

It will of course be apparent that the above described heading or topping device may be made for either the left or right hand, or that if desired, one may be used upon either hand and for this reason we have illustrated, in Fig. 4, a blade suitable for a left handed header, its construction being identical with that shown in Fig. 2, with the exception that it is reversely formed. It will further be apparent that various minor changes may be made in the manner of constructing the glove or mitten. For instance, the straps 16 and 17 may in fact be continuations of the tongues 13 and 1 1 or one of them may be a continuation of one of the tongues and the strap 15 a continuation of the other. We prefer however, to construct the device with the strap 15 as a separate element in that by this means the tongues are drawn toward each other and the glove caused to fit more evenly about the hand.

Because of the peculiar shaping of the blade, and particularly of the body portion thereof, the header may be used continuously for any length of time without tiringg the hand as the body member of the blade rests evenly and smoothly in the palm of the hand.

It will of course be understood that-We do not limit the use of our heading knife to corn as it may be used upon any member ofthe cane family or in fact for any :purpose to which it may be adapted.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A header including a strip of fiexiblemaeluding a substantially triangular body portion secured upon the strip with its base substantially parallel with the base ofethefingers of the wearer and with its opposite vertex extending toward the wrist of the wearer, one edge of the plate between-said vertex and the base being curved to conform to the base of the wearers thumb, and a blade projecting from the plate adjacent the outer vertex remote from the thumb and extending downwardly and towardthewrist of the wearer with its upper edge sharpened.

In testimony whereof we afliX our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

MELVILLE D. OWEN. [1 8.1 LEO OWEN.

Witnesses:

G. R. S'rALEY, J. W. GABBERT.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe commissioner ot latents Washington, D. G." 

